The Princess and the Chief
by Tsuna2796
Summary: "When Berk fell under the rule of the Draco Court and Dragon Riders were ordered to be captured, Hiccup and his band of dragon riders traveled across lands and seas in search for allies to take back Berk with and safe havens from their hunters."
1. Hunt

_**1**_

When Berk fell under the rule of the Draco Court and Dragon Riders were ordered to be captured, Hiccup and his band of dragon riders travelled across lands and seas in search for allies to take back Berk with and safe havens from their hunters.

* * *

Snotlout wandered around the land on his Monstrous Nightmare. It was patrol night for him again. He was on his back on Hookfang as it flew moderately fast above the towering trees of the forest. The cold night breeze blew and not so soon made Snotlout sleepy. Snotlout snored as he slept deeply on his dragon's scaly back.

The patrol was going well for Jorgenson when Hookfang spun to wake his rider. He saw something. Snotlout sat up and looked down to see a light.

"And here I was thinking that nothing will happen tonight. Let's check it out."

Snotlout maneuvered his dragon slowly down the forest. It wasn't easy with Hookfang's massive wings and the closely spaced trees. He found a bald spot in the forest and landed there. Snotlout hopped off and equipped himself with the axe he had strapped on Hookfang's belt. Hookfang stood still as his rider ventured into the forest.

Snotlout gripped his ax tightly as he slowly wandered down the path he had set. Despite the cold air, beads of sweat rolled along his cheeks and down to his chin.

Luther the Hunter lit his torch when the breeze blew it out. He was not about to be surprised by his prey, not again. He focused and listened carefully to his surroundings as he endured the cold breeze. He heard a soft rustle in the bush to his east. He quickly dropped his torch and equipped his bow. He shot an arrow to the direction he heard the noise and realized there was nothing there but a squirrel. The arrow hit the squirrel and a tree and went right through another two.

"Blasted squirrel. These arrows were made for killing dragons, not just some vermin." He cursed to himself. He then shot another arrow blindly behind him. It hit a wolf and its prey, a rabbit.

Snotlout saw Luther fire his bow skillfully in just a second and what it could do. Considering his skill and his dragon, he decided to retreat and just warn the others. He stepped slowly back to Hookfang only to step on a twig. It snapped and drew the attention of the hunter. Luther rushed to where he was, aiming his bow. Realizing there was no point in stealth, Snotlout ran as fast as he can to his dragon. An arrow flew right by him.

"Stop running and save us both the time, fugitive." The hunter said.

"Fugitive? All I see is one handsome chunk of dragon rider right here. Hookfang, now!"

From above, Hookfang attacked Luther with his fire. The hunter skillfully avoided the shots and fired back with his arrows. Hookfang swooped down and Snotlout jumped on him to make their escape. The hunter drew his bow and fired two arrows consecutively, both hitting their marks. Snoutlout let out a loud scream as the arrow went through his shoulder and Hookfang roared as the arrow pierced his right wing. The dragon and his rider fell to the ground. Snotlout stood and picked his axe up. He heard Luther close in on them.

"Hookfang. Go straight back to Hiccup. I know it's gonna be hard but you have to. He'll just follow us there if one of us doesn't stay." He said.

Hookfang stood proudly and prepared to fire. He didn't want to leave his rider. Snotlout sighed and smiled.

"I'll catch up. Go."

Hookfang roared and shot a fireball in front of his rider to give him light. By the time the hunter arrived, the dragon was long gone and all that was left was Snotlout surrounded by a circle of fire ready to face him.

"Bring it. I've had enough of you."

The hunter drew his bow and shot the ax out of Snotlout's hand. The look on his eyes was filled with the intent to kill. Snoutlout rolled to his side to reach his ax but was shot on his hand instead. He let out another scream. He was about to stand up again and fight when the forest started spinning in his sight.

"The arrow... it's laced with poison." He realized.

"You were done for even before we started fighting. And so was your dragon."

"Go ahead and kill me then."

"Unfortunately for me, I do not have the permission to do that. The Court wants you alive, Snotlout Jorgenson."

* * *

Morning came with no sign of Snotlout in the camp. Hiccup visited the others to ask if they'd seen him. All of them said no. They continued with their morning routines and just when they finished, a familiar face arrived.

"Hiccup, it's Hookfang!" Fishlegs called. "He's hurt pretty bad."

Hiccup came rushing to Fishlegs and saw the weak Monstrous Nightmare. He saw the wound on its wing, realized it was no simple wound, and had Astrid attend to it. He also noticed other wounds, possibly from crashes Hookfang had had before again crashing into the middle of the camp. The other dragons came and tried to comfort their wounded friend.

"First Ruffnut and now Snotlout," Hiccup let out a soft curse. "This hunter has to be stopped. I'm going out there tonight."

"And what? Get yourself or Toothless captured?" Astrid said. "Hiccup, you've seen what this guy can do. He's just one man but he did beat the twins and now Snotlout. No offense but those two are better at hand to hand combat than you."

"They don't ride like me. Toothless and I can take him."

"I'm not trying to convince you, Hiccup. I'm telling you not to. This little group of ours needs you. Berk needs you but we can't take them back unless we have allies," Astrid looked Hiccup in the eye. "Now, Fishlegs said that he saw a small village around here, a part of the nearby kingdom. Let's focus on that first to make things easier."

"Astrid... Okay. What's the kingdom nearest here?"

"According to the villagers," Fishlegs interrupted "DunBroch."


	2. The Princess

**2**

 _"_ _Muuuum! I'm going."_

 _"_ _Not until you—"_

 _"_ _Introduce myself to the guests. Okay, okay."_

Queen Elinor laughed as she watched her daughter walk sarcastically elegant to the main hall. Merida graced their guests with her presence and warm welcome.

"Welcome, visitors. My name is Merida, first-born and only princess of Clan DunBroch. My father will be with you shortly so please, enjoy this feast prepared by the finest in our land." said Merida, standing as straight as possible.

She then turned slowly and walked away. Her mother stopped her in her path and spoke softly.

"Now, was that so hard?"

"Nope. Just like we practiced, right?"

The two laughed at their performances. Elinor went forward to entertain their guests and Merida went back to the stables to get Angus.

Merida hopped on her horse and rode off to the forest. She smiled as her long, curly, auburn-red hair flowed with the air. She let out a giggle while she thought of what to do.

The targets she had set around the forest started to fall one by one in front of her. She took her bow from her shoulder and started aiming and firing arrow, all hitting their marks.

"I remember it being harder." She patted Angus and laughed.

After her target practice in the forest, Merida headed straight to the falls to get a drink and to wash her hair. Angus drank, as well. The Fire Falls was just majestic. The falls reflected the sunset so perfectly it looked as if it were really on fire, just like Merida's hair.

"Look at that, Angus. Remember the last time we were here?" She patted Angus and brushed his mane as she looked up. Angus neighed to tell Merida he agrees. "Well, it's getting dark. Let's head back before mum loses it again."

The duo headed back to the castle in a rush. On their way, Angus tripped on something and the both went rolling on the ground. Merida looked back to see there was nothing there. She equipped herself with her bow and drew back an arrow. She looked around as they continued to head back.

Merida hopped back on Angus when she decided they were safe. She held tightly onto Angus to assure herself she won't fall again. She made Angus run as fast as he can to get back to the castle faster only to trip again but this time... it wasn't the ground they met.

They were picked up by a trap. When Angus stepped on a trigger, it snapped in half and set off a trap under them. A net came up and caught the two of them. They were lifted off the ground.

"Oof. Traps? Since when did the forest have traps? This wasn't here when we first passed here."

"Indeed it wasn't, Red." A low disembodied voice said.

"Who's there?" She asked with her thick accent getting thicker with nervousness.

"Just a hunter looking for its prey," Luther the Hunter came out of the shadows, cleaning his sword. "Tell me, have you seen a group of, I don't know, four, around here? One of them has a metal leg so it's not that hard to pick."

Merida thought hard to remember if she had seen a man with a metal leg. She couldn't because she hadn't seen one. Angus started kicking and thrashing inside the unusually large net they were in when Luther lit a torch.

"Well? No?" He asked again.

"No. I haven't seen anyone with a metal leg. Let us go!"

"Now, there's the tricky part. Nobody can know that I'm here and that I'm hunting them. You see, there's a large price on each of their heads," He said. "A chest full of gold. Another set is for their companions."

"So you're going to kill me?" Merida slowly reached for an arrow in her quiver. He must not see me, she thought. She started cutting her way through the rope. It was thicker than it looked.

The hunter cut the rope that held the trap up even before Merida could cut herself out. Angus tried to kick the hunter but was punched by it instead. Angus ran away in fear. Merida tried to run with her partner but the hunter shot an arrow and hit her leg. Merida wailed in pain before the hunter put his hand over her mouth.

"Don't worry, lass. It'll be quick." Luther said, trying to imitate Merida's accent.

"No. Please." Merida begged in her muffled brittle voice. She tried mustering some strength but the man was too strong. There was not escape for her.

Merida closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and thought of her family. Tears fell from her eyes as the image of her mother, brothers, and father went through her head. She felt the cold sword's edge of the hunter on her throat, then her chest, and then her wrist. He was choosing where to cut her.

"You know, I'll just cut your head off just to be sure. What do you think?"

"My dad will find you." Merida said, still with her eyes shut.

Out of nowhere, she heard crashes, explosions, some very near. The hunter threw her aside and ran away. She rolled down a hill and hit her back on a boulder. A groan went out of her mouth as she felt a sharp pain on her back. For a while, her world looked as if it were spinning. Merida tried to crawl and pull her way to safety. When her vision stopped spinning, she pushed herself up and tried to run.

As she was running, Merida looked up and saw something. She saw wings. She saw a tail. Angus came back not so long after Luther ran and Merida hopped onto her horse as she looked up on the figure that was now circling above her.

"What is it?" She asked Angus as she made him stop. "It can't be a dragon, now can it?"

"Oh, it is, Red," Luther said. "That there is a dragon, in the flesh."

Angus ran at the sight of the hunter. The hunter chased and fired arrows at them. Unfortunately for him, Merida was an archer, too. She fired back and hit every arrow the hunter shot at her. She was feeling great and safe when the hunter fired two arrows at once. Merida hit one but the other went right on Angus' leg. He fell and rolled and threw Merida, causing her to hit her head on a tree.

Merida's world spun and spun but she didn't need a clear vision to see that the hunter was right in front of her. All of a sudden, she felt like being lifted up and saw a blurry vision that looked like a dragon picking Angus up, and then she passed out.

* * *

The sound of metals clanging, swords clashing, and some animal roaring woke the red haired princess. She sat up and looked around only to realize that nothing in the place looked familiar. On the walls, pieces of paper with drawings that looked like weapons hung; to her side, a table with some meat on a plate and water which she hurriedly ate.

After the last drop of water and slice of meat went down her throat, Merida pushed her aching body up from bed and headed to the door. She laid her hands on the wooden door and pushed it gently. It opened immediately for it had no knob or anything that would lock it in place.

"Must have been built in a hurry," She whispered. "Now, where is Angus? And where am I?"

Merida shielded her eyes as the light of the sun shone directly upon her pair. Half a day, she thought.

When the red and green screen that obstructed her vision faded, Merida's jaw dropped for before her stood five – no – six dragons. One had a horn on its nose and blue scales. Another had red scales and wide wings, and it was on fire! But what caught Merida's attention was one specific dragon. This one had jet black scales, and a mechanical tail fin.


End file.
